Elk Nearly Gores Old Man In The Back In Estes Park, Colorado

Watch your back.

No, seriously. You’ve got to watch your back when you are walking around areas with wildlife. You should generally never turn around and let a wild animal out of your direct line of sight if you are in close quarters with them. These people walking around Estes Park in Colorado apparently didn’t know that.

They got up close and personal with a sizable elk (or the elk got up close with them) and things got tense, to say the least. A fully grown elk can weigh over 1,000 pounds, and their sharp antlers are an excellent weapon of choice. All that weight behind some head-mounted puncturing tools can easily do some damage, though generally an elk’s antlers are used to defend themselves.

It’s a good a thing this wild animal was somewhat polite, because otherwise this could have been a horrific story about a backstabbing elk. Instead, it’s just about an elk that could be categorized as a “back-poker.” Though it appears no one was injured in this incident, it doesn’t make it any less scary.

The group of tourists were slowly walking away from the bull elk, and as soon as the old man bringing up the rear fully turned his back to the elk, it lowered its antlers and charged. Thankfully, it pulled up just in time and only prodded the man’s back with its pointy antlers. And even after it got a piece of the old man’s back, the massive animal continued to closely follow the group of people.

Take a look:

Terrifying… hopefully those people eventually got out of the sights of the elk and were able to enjoy their time in Estes Park – which is known as the “Elk Capital of the World.”

Those that viewed the video on social media pointed out that these people were very fortunate that the elk didn’t attack more aggressively. They provided plenty of commentary on the close call, and suggested that the towering beast was just trying to keep traffic moving along:

“That was the friendliest ‘tap’ I’ve ever seen.”

“He said, ‘And stay out!'”

“That was just a little tap to keep things moving, or preferably get out of the way.”

“Mess with the elk, you get the horns.”

“That could have been SOOOOO much worse!”

If you know anything about Estes Park, Colorado, you know there is TONS of elk there.

Herd Of Elk Causes 100-Car Traffic Jam

Of all the excuses you could use for being late, blaming it on a herd of elk sounds a little far fetched, does it not?

I guess it depends on what part of the country you live in, and it would probably be a worthy excuse for those living in or near Estes Park, Colorado. Plus, these people that were stuck in an “elk jam” have video evidence to prove it.

And to all those people that say they couldn’t live in a city because of the traffic, what do you have to say now? I know this probably doesn’t happen too often, but this goes to show that gridlock can occur even in the most rural of areas.

Vehicles were bumper to bumper for what looks like a good mile as the elk herd took over the road and brought almost every single car to a stop. As people often do when they get into standstill traffic, many drivers started to get out of their cars and looking to see what the hold up was all about.

That probably doesn’t bode well with many National Park guidelines, which advises tourists to provide at least a 25 yard cushion between yourself and wild animals.

However, the elk didn’t seem to mind all that much, and we’re really just living in their own little world as they occupied the street and inadvertently caused a lengthy backup on the road.

The video is overlayed with the caption:

“Number one cause of Estes Park traffic jams… Elk!”

Even though the antlered animal caused a stoppage, and a large one at that, everyone in the reply section of the post were pretty positive about the whole thing. I guess it’s because they weren’t the ones held up in a traffic jam:

Thank you, Captain Obvious…